


under the mistletoe

by pastisregret



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Fluff, Social Media AU, Strangers to Lovers, Twitter AU, multimedia au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:19:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 2,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21964852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pastisregret/pseuds/pastisregret
Summary: marinette and adrien pull each other’s names during this year’s secret santa - but have no idea what to get each other. with only days until their christmas party, they end up getting festive and getting close - together.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 130
Kudos: 332





	1. intro

**Author's Note:**

> another day another twitter au haha

marinette's profile:

adrien's profile:

alya's profile:

nino's profile:

adrien's private:


	2. day 1

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	3. day 2

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	4. day 3

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Marinette was sure she would never become accustomed to waking up early. The blurry eyes and shuffling steps never did much to help her when she needed to navigate her way around her room, and the onset feeling of timid insecurity from hastily applied makeup would never quite disappear, a feeling that was present more than ever as she questioned her choice in lip-gloss color for the day.

However, there were scattered bits throughout Marinette’s morning where it almost seemed worth the trouble, such as now.

“So, look at who decided to _finally_ show up,” Alya says, watching as she walked up to her.

Marinette laughed, rolling her eyes. “You saw me yesterday.”

“Yeah, but yesterday you were _late_ , so it doesn’t count.”

“I can’t help it if I don’t set an alarm before I go to sleep, you know. Those things are hard to manage.”

“Yeah, maybe. But you know what wasn’t hard?” Alya asks, looking at Marinette.

“What?”

The smirk on Alya’s face was enough to chill lakes. “Talking to Adrien.”

With a groan, Marinette turned from Alya, making for the stairs in an attempt to get away from her. “We,” she starts, “are not going to talk about this. Not now, and definitely not later.”

“You are not going to hold out on me, Mari. Not when it’s about something like _this_.”

“I’m not sure I get what you’re talking about,” Marinette says, taking her first step upwards.

“You aren’t sure?” Alya asks, following her steps. “Really?”

Taking another step, she shrugged. “Not a clue.”

That was a lie. Marinette _did_ know, and the memory of the moment ran through her mind like a ruined CD, haunting her.

It hadn’t been just one moment, though. There were things that led to it, small details she listed off one by one:

_A walk into the classroom, late and reluctant to enter._

_A scan of the students, each already seated and attentive to the teacher as she paused from her lecture to glance at the interruption._

_An explanation rushing out of Marinette’s mouth as she made for her seat._

_A pause as she reached the foot of the stairs, looking over at the person who sat in front of her._

_Eye contact, the piercing sort._

_A shared intake of breath, class silent as they observed._

_A fake smile, with eyes that shone bright._

_And then, to the shock of everyone, something said._

_“Morning, Adrien. How are you?”_

No, Marinette was sure it was hard to forget momentous things like that.

“You can’t pretend nothing happened forever, you know,” Alya says, jogging up the steps to reach Marinette. “Like it or not, the whole class was there, and I bet you a hundred euros half the school must know by now.”

“Trust me, I wish only half the school knew about this. I was getting messages from people in different years all night, asking questions about ‘what really happened.’”

“Did you answer any?”

“What was there to say?” Marinette asks, chuckling. “That after a year of hostile energy, I suddenly had a change of heart, for no reason other than I _wanted_ to?”

“I mean, it sounds like just the Christmas energy you’d think would appear.”

“Christmas energy was definitely involved,” Marinette says, reaching the top step. “But I’m sure it’s the energy that comes from gift exchanges and less from the kind that inspires a sleigh to fly on Christmas Eve or something.”

Sighing, she looked at her phone, watching the time displayed. There were still a few minutes before class started, and he was nowhere in sight. Usually, Marinette would take this as a blessing but now, scouring the courtyard as best as she could, there was a small twinge of anticipation rising.

It was almost like there was something to look forward to with him around.

“I was nice to him once,” Marinette finally says, voice low as she spoke. “I told you I could be nice if I wanted to, and I was. And now we all know I can be, and we’ll probably never see something like that again. Simple as that.”

Alya raised a brow, watching her. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Marinette answers. “Of course.”

For the second time that morning, she had lied.

* * *

Adrien hadn’t expected much to occur in class. Lecture followed with a game of “who’s going to get caught passing notes” with Nino was the typical in his morning, and after depressing lunch with his father’s assistant, Adrien usually waited until class ended before he dodged busy hallways to lower his chance at an interaction with _her_.

(Her being Marinette, of course.)

Although, expectations never quite aligned with reality.

Adrien was sure the ongoing Secret Santa at blame for it all. As soon as he drew the slip of paper and read her name written in sparkly pink pen, Adrien knew that any chance at avoiding the obvious had been tossed out of the window. A year at work, carefully dodging Marinette in any way possible, had quickly crumbled before his eye. No, Adrien knew with the same certainty that the sun rose every morning that, soon, he would have to interact with Marinette.

He just hadn’t expected it _to be so soon_. And now, gazing at his phone and looking at Nino’s message, he felt the dread seep in again.

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With a raised brow, Alya gave a quick look at Nino in the row above before clicking onto the message, ready to get to the bottom of his tweet.

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	5. day 4

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Sighing, Marinette rolled her eyes as she typed in his number, cautious to get every number correct. There was unease setting in, quick and attacking her, but also a sudden burst of courage which pushed her to continue at the act. No good would do in simply gazing at the slip of paper Adrien had given her, and there was no use pretending she could avoid it forever.

Still, as she pressed ‘send’, Marinette wondered if she could have worded her greeting better.

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Snorting, Marinette couldn’t help the huff of air that left her nostrils as she fought back a laugh, all too amused with Adrien’s emoticon and way too proud to let anyone take notice of it.

Of course, there was no hiding anything from her best friend.

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	6. day 5

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Eyes wide, Alya practically leaned forever in her seat in an attempt to get a better view, watching as both Marinette and Adrien (amongst others) shuffled into the class. There was some distance between them, but she was sure that as they grew closer to their seats that there would be something. A brush of each other’s shoulders. A nod in recognition of the other person. Perhaps, even, if she were lucky enough, a smile shared between the two.

There was none of that. With a frown, she sank back into her seat, fumbling for her phone.

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[yesterday]

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	7. day 6

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	8. day 7

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	9. day 8

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	10. day 9

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	11. day 10

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	12. day 11

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	13. day 12

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Adrien was used to parties. Big, glorious events where he’d dress up in the latest collections and be forced to sit at a table majority of the evening unless a picture was necessary. He knew the proper etiquette like the back of his hand, of nice handshakes and gentle smiles and, on occasion, the best way to give a polite yet warm hug.

Still, none of that prepared him for the Secret Santa party, thrown into chaos from the first moment he stepped into Nino’s place.

“I didn’t think it would be this full,” he’s almost yelling into Nino’s ear over the music. Adrien had only taken a few steps in before his best friend appeared and took hold of him, maneuvering him around the guests and working their way to somewhere else in the house. “Isn’t this just a thing for our school?”

“Think of it as a mini-organization,” Nino responds, arm slung around Adrien’s shoulder. “We set up _our_ school’s Secret Santa, but every other school in Paris who wanted to join in was free to. Not like it makes cleaning up any easier, but it sure adds to the fun when the time comes to party.”

“Uh-huh.” Looking above the various heads, Adrien narrowed his eyes in the hopes of spotting Marinette. He hadn’t gotten the chance to text her before the party, and on the way needed to work around the crowds of fans and civilians as best as he could, leading to a delayed entrance. But he had finally made it, and with hands empty and anxiety bubbling, there was now only one thing he needed to do while here.

For that, however, he needed Marinette.

“Where are we going?” Adrien asks, watching as they neared a door, shut tight. Practically ignored by the other guests, it seemed like it was successfully sectioned off from the rest of the party.

At least, until Nino reached to swing open the door and push Adrien in.

“Thank me later,” he says, closing before Adrien can let a word out. He stares at the door in disbelief for a moment, but the sound of rustling paper behind him causes Adrien to slowly turn around, catching none other than Marinette.

“Adrien!” she exclaims, setting down a present onto a large pile, one of many in the room. “They put you on gift sorting too?”

“No,” he starts, gesturing a thumb to the door behind him. “Nino just kind of… brought me here the second I arrived. But, if you need the help, then I guess I can – “

Marinette holds a hand up, stopping him before he can continue. “Oh, don’t sweat it then. I’ll finish this last one and be ready to head back out.”

“There’s only one pile left?” Adrien asks, stepping closer to her. The pile seemed the more colorful of the bunch, with wrapping paper he was sure he had seen shoved in Max’s locker earlier. “Which school?”

Marinette smiles as she holds out one for him. “Ours.”

Taking it, Adrien feels himself grow a grin as their hands brush, resting on each other for perhaps a bit too long. Placing it in an empty container for easy handling later in the party, he waits for Marinette to hand the next, working in comfortable silence for the next few minutes. It’s relaxing, and enough of a task that he doesn’t grow bored.

It’d be hard to get bored around Marinette, though.

“I think that’s our last gift,” she says, stepping close to the container to count them up silently. “All but three.”

“Three?”

“Chloé hasn’t showed up yet with her gift,” she explains. “And we’re missing two gifts.”

Heart pounding, Adrien lets out an awkward chuckle. “Two?”

“Yeah. Two.”

The comfortable silence they enjoyed seems to dissipate in the next moment, both staring at each other as they resonate Marinette’s words, letting the realization sink in.

In the next second, the confession springs out.

“I didn’t get you a gift.”

Blinking, Marinette opens her mouth to try and say something coherent. Finding nothing, she closes it only to open it once more in a last-ditch effort, focusing solely on the first thing she could work with.

“You got me for Secret Santa.”

Adrien nods. “And you…?” He trails off.

“I got you,” she says, confirming his question. Letting out a small chuckle, Marinette can’t help but shake her head in disbelief at him. “Small world, huh?”

“I guess so,” he says, joining in her laughter. “Or, if you’re Alya, then this is just a burst of ‘Christmas magic.’”

Fighting back a smile, Marinette rolls her eyes and raises a hand upward to shove his shoulder. “Please, if I have to hear that silly saying one more – “

She jolts to a stop before she can finish her sentence, eyes training on what dangled above them on a thin string and taking the words out of her mouth. Following her line of sight, it takes only a few seconds before Adrien realizes what’s caught her attention.

A sprig, with three red berries hanging almost too beautifully from it.

Looking back down at Marinette, Adrien tries to play it cool, voice low as he says, “It looks like we’re under the mistletoe.”

Marinette swallows, keeping eye contact with Adrien. “That it does.”

She’s close to him, enough that she can smell his cologne. A few weeks ago, it would’ve been a scent she found unbearable, enough for her nose to scrunch up and head to turn away from him in distaste.

Now, it only smells irresistible, enough to take another step close to him.

“You know what people do under the mistletoe, right?” Adrien asks. He’s close enough that Marinette can feel his breath brush against her skin, and yet still seems still too far away.

“I do,” she says, a hand coming up to rest on the back of his neck, a spot that feels too familiar to be new. With only a small tug she’s pulled him down, head closer than ever to hers.

Adrien only has one thing left to ask, eyes no longer focused on hers and voice coming out in an almost whisper. “Care to tell?”

Instead of speaking, Marinette leans in, pressing her lips against his.

Outside the door, she can hear the music, loud and pounding. There’s the distant sound of laughter and loud conversations, enough to drown everything out. It’s chaotic and crazy and would be a joy to partake in, memories to last a lifetime.

But for now, none of that matters. Nothing but the thrill of kissing Adrien, under the mistletoe.

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**Author's Note:**

> mari-cheres on tumblr


End file.
